The Woolworths Thread (24 Viewers)

[brookie94]

quick question for you guys...
here's the scenario.

Saturday night, about 6.50pm.
The store is closed and I am about to finish up in the cash office. Only night fillers and a couple of deli staff left.

The fire alarms go off.
Our emergency meeting point is outside the liquor store (which is still open - its attached to the supermarket but on the OUTSIDE of the shopping centre).

The liquor store is on the exact opposite corner of the store to where I am sitting in the cash office, which is down stairs. Because the store is closed this is the only way out of the store.

Do you:
a) leave through the closest emergency exit (which in this case is the staff exit door upstairs) knowing you will set off the security alarm.
b) walk along the entire back dock, through the whole store to exit through the liquor department (which as I'll remind you is at the opposite end of the store)

What do you reckon?


I chose a). I then had to run around the back of centre in the pouring rain to get to the meeting point. I get there only to be told off by the nightfill 2IC (I think he's 2IC? - he wasn't in charge that night) and a liquor staff member for using the emergency exit. They tell me that on Monday (today) the security footage is going to be reviewed and I am going to be in SO much trouble and why the hell did I leave through that exit blah blah blah.

Once the all clear was given I went back into the store and passed through the staff exit door, having my stuff checked by the night captain, as is protocol.

I was pretty annoyed because I have never been instructed on what to do if we have to evacuate and I'm in the cash office - I did what I thought was right in this situation and I basically got accused of breaking the rules and doing something really stupid by staff who really don't have that much authority.

PS. As a side note there was a fire in the centre, outside our store only last year.

there should be emergency exit plans around the store, including in the office, if not, thats their fault.. emergency exits are for emergency/possible emergency situations so i would say you arent in the wrong..

 

[iMatthew]

That's absolutely ridiculous? An emergency exit exists FOR EMERGENCIES, regardless of whether or not a fire is blazing through the store... The fact that the fire alarms went off surely is enough for you to use the door without hassles? I actually think it would have been negligent if you went the long way, potentially putting yourself at risk.

At the end of the day, the most sacred thing is a human life, you do *whatever* you need to do to get out, doesn't even matter if it breaks a law, you just make sure you get out safely (btw, the law part is known as duress incase you are wondering what i'm talking about)

 

[bensneddon]

quick question for you guys...
here's the scenario.

Saturday night, about 6.50pm.
The store is closed and I am about to finish up in the cash office. Only night fillers and a couple of deli staff left.

The fire alarms go off.
Our emergency meeting point is outside the liquor store (which is still open - its attached to the supermarket but on the OUTSIDE of the shopping centre).

The liquor store is on the exact opposite corner of the store to where I am sitting in the cash office, which is down stairs. Because the store is closed this is the only way out of the store.

Do you:
a) leave through the closest emergency exit (which in this case is the staff exit door upstairs) knowing you will set off the security alarm.
b) walk along the entire back dock, through the whole store to exit through the liquor department (which as I'll remind you is at the opposite end of the store)

What do you reckon?


I chose a). I then had to run around the back of centre in the pouring rain to get to the meeting point. I get there only to be told off by the nightfill 2IC (I think he's 2IC? - he wasn't in charge that night) and a liquor staff member for using the emergency exit. They tell me that on Monday (today) the security footage is going to be reviewed and I am going to be in SO much trouble and why the hell did I leave through that exit blah blah blah.

Once the all clear was given I went back into the store and passed through the staff exit door, having my stuff checked by the night captain, as is protocol.

I was pretty annoyed because I have never been instructed on what to do if we have to evacuate and I'm in the cash office - I did what I thought was right in this situation and I basically got accused of breaking the rules and doing something really stupid by staff who really don't have that much authority.

PS. As a side note there was a fire in the centre, outside our store only last year.

That is total shit! An emergency exit is there for a reason - you did the right thing.

Nobody who is aware of their obligations under the OHS Act would tell you otherwise.

Ignore the nightfill idiot. I am glad that I had gone home by that point

 

[_be]

ekul444, you were most definitely in the right.

Depending on your state, you can actually face fines from your local fire authority for not taking the most immediate path to exit the building.
In addition to that, don't CMS automatically get notified when the fire alarms go off anyway?

 

[iMatthew]

ekul444, you were most definitely in the right.

Depending on your state, you can actually face fines from your local fire authority for not taking the most immediate path to exit the building.
In addition to that, don't CMS automatically get notified when the fire alarms go off anyway?

Yes, CMS do, so it doesn't matter what, they were notified, and probably area HR depending on local policies/proceedures.

 

[bensneddon]

Yes, CMS do, so it doesn't matter what, they were notified, and probably area HR depending on local policies/proceedures.

I'm not sure if CMS can monitor fire alarms that are controlled by the shopping centre management company though...

 

[Jolyon]

Up to our 8th Customer Service Manager this year. No wonder my department is confused as ever

 

[nanakid12]

Wow, 8? We've had four in all the years we've been open... ha. We're pretty awesome atm

First supervision shift by myself soon. Any pointers to help manage time properly? What's your usual routine as a supervisor?
Its a close shift just so you know. The other day I did one with another supervisor who was helping train me (she's a register girl and is there as backup) was a bit of a disaster... a couple of jobs didn't get done, and I didn't go for my 10 minute break until 45 minutes before I finished (its my own fault though ). The essential things got done, but just not all the extras.

I seem to get stressed very easily... though it could just be because I'm a new supervisor...

 

[Jolyon]

Wow, 8? We've had four in all the years we've been open... ha. We're pretty awesome atm

First supervision shift by myself soon. Any pointers to help manage time properly? What's your usual routine as a supervisor?
Its a close shift just so you know. The other day I did one with another supervisor who was helping train me (she's a register girl and is there as backup) was a bit of a disaster... a couple of jobs didn't get done, and I didn't go for my 10 minute break until 45 minutes before I finished (its my own fault though ). The essential things got done, but just not all the extras.

I seem to get stressed very easily... though it could just be because I'm a new supervisor...

We now have who our region manager considers "the best" CSM in our region cause we were getting hopeless with so many changes.

The way I do a close is first get the essentials done, bagging (which we have to do with two people so I just do one draw and get someone else to do the other next to me, we get it done so much faster that way.), cleaning, bags, returns, impulse. Then the usual manage the customers and such. It gets easier with time but it shouldn't be to hard for you.

 

[dynasty]

Does anyone know how I can find out how much sick leave I have? It's not on our payslips. Would the cash office know?

 

[BSammy]

Yes, Cash office will know, they might not tell you however.

 

[applepie1234123]

Does anyone know how I can find out how much sick leave I have? It's not on our payslips. Would the cash office know?

On the clock on thing, you should be able to check your slick leave.

 

[iMatthew]

On the clock on thing, you should be able to check your slick leave.

..what, how? :s

 

[iMatthew]

There will be a McDonalds in every Masters store. Whoopwhoop?

 

[BSammy]

Yeah, hope this means we get a discount.

 

[bensneddon]

Yeah, hope this means we get a discount.

I doubt it... Woolworths will just be leasing the space to a McDonalds franchisee. So it will operate as an independent business.

It's a better idea than the sausage and bun you get at Bunnings!

 

[dynasty]

Yes, Cash office will know, they might not tell you however.

Ok thanks for that. I'll try asking there.

 

[bensneddon]

Woolworths released it's official iPhone app today. It's very cool - you can sign in to your Everyday Rewards accounts and view fuel dockets (like you could do previously on the Everyday Rewards app), view exclusive EDR offers, use the camera to scan products or search for products and add them to a shopping list that is sorted by aisle for your local store etc etc.

Good work. Woolworths are really pulling out the stops with IT at the moment!

 

[iMatthew]

Agreed!

Also, the Kindle makes an appearance at DSE, Big W and Woolworths which is sorta cool I guess..

 

[ytrbut]

The iPhone app is brilliant. I was pretty skeptical when I heard about it and had the training come through, but it actually works really well.

A couple of other quirky initiatives that you may not have seen in your store yet are being rolled out. There will now be a big black stand at the front of the store (similar to the new "produce specials" one) which will list the store manager, the manager on duty (ie. the SM when he's there or otherwise the ASM/LM/Duty Manager) and the customer service manager on duty (CSM or the supervisor). Quite a revolutionary change from a company which only seems to recently been getting on the forward-facing accountability bandwagon at a store level.

The weekly scorecard thing that anyone who's a DM/2IC would know about is, again, a really good way of holding people to account week-to-week. Released on a Wednesday for the previous week, it has a number of KPI's in a format which is significantly easier than calculating it all manually via WLP. Also includes things like promo out of stocks per department, fresh departments penetration etc. etc.

Everything seems to be about flow on accountability at the moment, which will be interesting to see how long it lasts. With the new structure it feels a lot as if they're trying to turn the heat up on a lot of people at store level to get "ticks in boxes" (the new buzz term), as part of the drive on increasing efficiency in stores.